Girl Meets Jealousy
by HoneypumpkinandPeaches
Summary: They thought they had experienced just about everything they possibly could for just being in eighth grade. They thought nothing could break the relationship they had.
1. Chapter 1

Girl Meets Jealousy

Chapter 1

It was just another normal day for Riley and Maya. Maya had climbed through Riley's window not just 2 hours before and they had walked to school together, just the two of them, just like always. The day was perfect; life was perfect. But a lot can happen in two hours; just as a small conflict can turn into a war. They'd learned this before though, they'd been through more than most 8th graders, and they felt very confident that they could handle just about anything. The problem was, some things don't present themselves as conflicts, just like that Trojan horse they had learned about that seemed so long ago. And although they felt they knew enough to handle anything; they were after all still in eighth grade, still trying to figure out each other, still trying to figure out themselves…

With linked arms, Riley and Maya made their way into history, who knows, maybe today was the day that they could actually learn about what happened in Belgium in 1831. They found their seat, the same as always, but just as they were about to sit down; Mr. Matthews walked in. Riley and Maya could care less about the entrance of their "dad" but everyone else seemed to be interested in something about this particular entrance.

"Maya and Riley can you please come here for a second?" Mr. Matthews called out as he walked to his desk.

After a shared eye roll Riley and Maya made their way up to the front and it soon became evident why everyone around them had been whispering.

"Girls, this is Kylie, she just moved here from a small town in Maine and she'll be joining us for our last semester at John Quincy Adams Middle School."

"And by 'our last semester', I hope you don't mean yourself." Maya replied sarcastically "I don't know how you'd follow us to high school but I've learned never to underestimate you."

"Nice to meet you! I'm Riley! I'm so glad you're here! What do you like to do? What's Maine like? What are you like?"

"Whoa there Riles, give her some time to breath, she just got here after all." Maya said as she grabbed Riley on the shoulder.

Riley smiled the smile only she could pull off, "This is Maya, and she is my best friend."

Maya stuck out her hand, "I'm her to keep this one alive."

"You can come sit by me if you want to." Riley said as she motioned to the empty seat next to her's. "I'm actually not sure who sat there to begin with."

"Actually Kiley, before you sit down, do you mind telling us a little about yourself?" Corey asked

"Sure Mr. Matthews" Kylie replied as Maya did a double take. She could have sworn she had just seen the "Riley smile", but this time, not on Riley.

" _Of course not_ " she thought, " _No one can smile the way Riley does and even if they did, it wouldn't matter_ " Riley is the most original person she knew; she was her "strange little goofball."

"I'm Kylie, I just moved here from a small town in Maine… um… I enjoy bright colors, flowers, and I help raise baby bunnies."

"BUNNIES" Riley said as she stood up "Bunnies, I love bunnies, you know I love bunnies Maya."

"Yes honey, I know you love bunnies. Now sit down and let her finish." Maya said as she pulled Riley back down into her seat.

"No actually, that's about all." Kylie said as she made her way towards her new seat.

Maya couldn't help notice the way Riley was looking at her though. It was her "Christmas morning face". Riley was always smiling but this was a different kind of smile. This was the rare smile that only came on very, **_very_** special occasions. Maya couldn't even recall her ever being the cause of that face for Riley.

" _How could 1 minute with this girl bring out 'super smiley Riley'? It took days, even months to plan something for Riley that exceeded even her belief of the highest amount of happy. One minute, one minute did not seem right. One minute did not make sense at all._ "


	2. Chapter 2

I tried to make the references as historically accurate as possible but please do not quote me on it or blame me if something is wrong!

Chapter 2

"Thank you Miss Matts." Mr. Matthews said as Kylie took her seat next to Riley. "Now today we will be learning about the American-Indian War. The Native Americans, the original owners of the land that is known today as North America, felt threatened by the growing powers of new colonists coming in from England. The Native Americans sparked many wars with the colonists to try to gain back the land that was rightfully theirs."

"Mr. Matthews?" Maya said raising her hand.

"Yes Maya"

"Why did the colonists take the land from the Indians if they knew it was rightfully theirs to begin with?"

"Well Miss Hart, the colonists landed in America to break free from the terrible life they had in England. I think they saw land, lots and lots of land and they thought it was big enough to share."

"But they didn't share Mr. Matthews, they forced the Indians off the land that they had lived on forever."

"You are right Maya. The good part of me wants to believe the colonists were just desperate to be somewhere other than England and they had no idea how much the Indian's land meant to them or how much hardship they were causing. They saw plenty of land that could be shared but I don't think they saw the importance behind it all. Does that make sense?"

"Yes" Maya said as the bell rang. "I just don't understand how the colonists couldn't have noticed." She added under her breathe.

"What was that Miss Hart?" Mr. Matthews asked suspiciously

"Nothing, I was just talking to myself" Maya said as she turned around to find Riley who had disappeared from her desk.

"I think she walked out with Kylie" Mr. Matthews called out

" _He knows me too well_ " Maya thought as she now made her way to the door.

"And Maya?" Mr. Matthews added

"Yah Mr. Matthews?"

"I heard somewhere that people that talk to themselves are the smartest people in the world. Keep that in mind would you?"

"Sure Mr. Matthews" she said as she turned towards the door again. "Thank you"

As Maya walked into the hallway she found Riley standing by her locker talking to the new girl.

" _Gosh darn it, what's her name again?_ " Maya thought as she made her way towards the lockers. " _Was it Kendall? No, Karsyn? No, CARLY… no wait that's not it either_ "

"Maya!" Riley called, finally noticing her best friend standing there intensely staring at the floor.

"Come here! There's someone I want you to meet!"

"I met her at the beginning of class sweetie. Remember? Your Dad called us up and we were really confused and-"

"I know Maya but you haven't _really_ met her."

"You're going to have to help me out here Honey."

"Do you know where she moved from?"

"I think we covered that in class too"

"Well did you know she helps raise BUNNIES? Bunnies Maya, BUNNIES."

"Yes Riley, I heard that too"

"Well did you know she moved into the same apartment building as me?"

All of the sudden Maya felt a strange nagging pain in her chest. She didn't want to ruin the "Smiley Riley" day with worry so she decided to ignore the feeling you start to get when you're about to cry.

" _Stop it! Nothing is wrong_ " Maya thought as she told Riley "Wow, that's great!" For some reason she felt the need to change the subject so she turned to Kylie and asked "Where will your bunnies go if you live in an apartment?"

Before Kylie had a chance to respond; Riley's big smile came back as she said, "Her parents are opening a pet store right across the street! I can go hold bunnies and puppies everyday afterschool now!"

"Actually, we just got all our pets settled in, do you want to go to the store after school today?" Kylie said, finally speaking for the first time since class ended.

"YAY" Riley said in the way that only she could "Can we go Maya? Please, please can we go?"

"You go sweetie, I think I'm actually going to head home now. I'm not feeling to good (it wasn't a complete lie)."

"Are you ok Peaches? Do you need me to walk you home?" Riley asked as her smile turned into concerned.

" _Great this is exactly what I didn't want_ " Maya thought "No I'm fine sweetie, it was just a long day and I woke up earlier than normal. I think if I just go home and take a quick power nap then I'll be fine."

Riley's face still showed some concern so Maya added, "You go to the pet store. I'll be fine. I'll drop by tonight after dinner, okay?"

"Okay, bye Peaches. See you after dinner?"

"I promise" Maya said holding up her hand with the ring that Riley had gotten her for her birthday.

And with that, Riley headed out with Kylie and Maya plugged in her headphones for the walk home. For some reason, the feeling got worse once she left Riley. She just wanted to drown these _feelings_ out with music but even with music, it was still hard to ignore that nagging that for some reason made her feel so upset.

Maya walked into her apartment, grabbed a piece of cold pizza and sat down on the couch. She thought she'd actually try to take a little nap (even though she just used that excuse to stop Riley from being concerned) but somehow the lesson that Mr. Matthews had taught them about the American-Indian War popped into her head and for some reason. She just couldn't stop thinking about it. It hurt her to think that the Americans had taken something so important from the Indians, and without even caring. She didn't know why but this made her really upset.

"It's just a stupid lesson" she said out loud as she laid down.

Apparently she was more tired than she thought because when she woke up, it was already 5:30. She decided she'd just go ahead and head over to the Matthews, eat some of their food, and do some homework with Riley.

Maya never even texted Riley when she was coming over anymore. Riley always left the window open and Maya came and went as she pleased. It was her second home. Besides she loved the reaction Riley got when she crawled through the window. She had been through that window ten million times but Riley was still overjoyed.

As she got to the window she peered in and saw Riley sitting in her normal spot on the bay window. Maya smiled as she reached to open the window but right as she was about to pull it open, she saw another person sitting there she hadn't noticed before. It was Kylie.

All of the sudden it feeling in her chest intensified, it felt like someone had stabbed her in the chest. She felt like she wanted to cry, but she couldn't. She tried once again to open the window but she couldn't bring herself to. She turned around and started heading back to her house. She opened the door expecting and secretly hoping to walk into an empty house but as she was walking to her room she heard her mom call

"I honey! How was your day?"

"Fine" Maya called, keeping her eyes fixed on the door and quickening her step.

As soon as she got in her room, she shut the door quietly and melted into her pillow.

" _Why does this hurt me so bad_? _I shouldn't even be hurting at all_." She thought as she finally let out the cry that she felt like she had been holding in all day.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When Maya woke up in the morning she found she had 5 missed calls and about 20 new messages from Riley. She felt bad that she had ditched her last night without any notice. It was after all a promise. She just couldn't bring herself to go in and she didn't have a valid excuse why she couldn't come over. After she saw Kylie sitting in the bay window with Riley, sitting in _their_ bay window it was too much for Maya to handle for… some reason.

Maya decided she should head over to Riley's a little bit earlier than normal. She at least owed her a small explanation. Besides, she knew Riley probably had some things to say to her and she didn't particularly want all of New York to hear in on their conversation as they walk to school.

As Maya got to Riley's window; she saw Riley sitting in her normal spot in the window with a really distressed look on her face. Maya didn't think she'd ever seen that look on her before. She slowly pulled up the window and before she could even get herself all the way through the window; Riley's arms were wrapped around her. _Why hadn't she just gone in the window last night?_ As quickly as the arms had been wrapped around her, they were taken off. Maya had no time to explain herself as Riley began spit firing questions at her.

"Why did you not come over last night? Why didn't you call and tell me you weren't coming? Why weren't you answering your phone? Are you ok? Are you sick?"

"Woah Sweetie, calm down. I'm ok. I'm not sick."

"Then WHY didn't you come over like you said. WHY weren't you answering your phone? I was so worried."

"I know Riles. I'm so sorry. I should have called you."

"WHY didn't you?"

"Can we talk about this later? I think we should start heading to school. The streets looked really busy this morning."

"Ok Maya but this is NOT over" Riley said as she grabbed her backpack.

For the first time in Maya and Riley's friendship, they walked to school in complete silence. Riley was confused and concerned and Maya just couldn't think of anything to say, let alone tell Riley why she had completely dropped off the face of the earth last night. Maya wasn't really sure herself. As they walked into school Lucas and Farkle made their way over to meet them.

"Woah, something is not right here" Lucas declared as he walked up

"And why would you think that?" Maya asked defensively

"Because you're not talking."

"How do you know that we didn't just pause as we walked in?" Maya asked, not wanting anyone else on her case

"Because you guys are always talking. I don't think you've ever paused your conversation, especially because you've entered the school."

"Maya, why didn't you come last night?" Riley asked once again

"Riley, I really don't want to talk about this right now. I'm not ready."

"What don't you want to talk about?" Lucas asked curiously

"Nothing you need to know about Lucas" Maya snapped

"She's mad because-"

"Riley stop! This is between you and me"

Right then, as if on cue, the bell rang.

" _Saved by the bell_ " Maya thought as she began heading to her first class

As the day went on; Maya began to feel better, that is, until history.

" _Please be gone. Please be gone_ " Maya thought to herself as she walked in " _Why am I thinking that? I'm a terrible person. What is happening?_ "

"What are you doing Maya?" Riley asked coming up beside her

Maya opened her eyes, not even realizing she had closed them, "Nothing, just…. Thinking"

"Thinking about what?" Riley asked, realizing that this might be the chance to finally figure out the truth

But just as Maya was opening her mouth to talk Kylie walked in and called out to Riley.

"Hey Riley! What's up? Can I still sit here?"

"Of course you can!" Riley answered enthusiastically

"I had so much fun yesterday with you! Do you want to come to the pet store with me again today after school?"

"I'd love to but…" Riley said turning to Maya, "Maya's kind of having a rough day and I want to make sure she's ok."

" _Why did she just tell her that? Wasn't there some sort of an unspoken rule with best friends about 'emotion confidentiality'? Especially between people we barely even know._ "

"Well you know, puppies are one of the best stress relievers. They actually sometimes bring them to colleges on finals week to help the students out."

"That's such a great idea!" Riley responded

" _It's like they don't even know I'm in the room_ " Maya thought

Just then Riley turned around to face Maya, "What do you think Maya? Do you want to go pet some puppies?"

"I'll have to think about it" Maya replied quick and sharp. She turned to Mr. Matthews. It was pretty evident that he had been watching them the entire time.

"Can I please go to the bathroom Mr. M?"

Mr. Matthews hesitated as he tried to look for some clues as to what was going on. He could tell how upset Maya looked so he said, "Go ahead Maya."

Riley raised her hand but before she could say anything Mr. Matthews said, "I think you should just let her be for a little bit Riley."

Maya stayed in the bathroom until she heard the bell. She had to figure out a way to sneak past Riley so that she could go pick up her stuff that she had left in the history classroom.

She peeked her head out the bathroom door. She saw Riley standing by their locker talking to Kylie.

" _Well this shouldn't be hard at all_ " Maya thought " _She doesn't notice me when she's talking to Kylie._ "

Maya bent down a little bit, to make herself smaller than she already was and as she suspected, made it into Mr. Matthew's room completely unnoticed. She grabbed her stuff as fast as she could but before she could get out the door, she heard the all too familiar voice.

"Maya, can you come here for a second?" She heard Mr. Matthews call

She was the only one in the classroom so it's not like she could pretend she didn't hear him. Maya took a deep breathe, turned around, and headed towards Mr. Matthew's desk.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Take a seat" Mr. Matthews said, gesturing to her usual chair and desk.

"Miss Hart, I couldn't help but notice that something is…off. Care to explain?"

"Not really Mr. Matthews. Besides, I'm not even sure I know myself"

"What do you mean Maya?" Mr. Matthews asked, taking a seat next to her

"It's just, there's this feeling I keep getting in my chest. It makes me want to yell but it makes me feels like I'm about to cry, all at the same time."

Mr. Matthews looked at her concerned, "How long has this been going on?"

"Not that long, just about a day."

"Do you know what you were doing when it started?"

Maya paused, "No, it just randomly started."

"Maya when did it start?"

"Yesterday in here" Maya said as she looked down at the floor

"Aww, I see. Why do you think that is Maya?" Mr. Matthews asked

"I don't know Mr. Matthews!"

"I think you do Maya. Could possibly have anything to do with our new classmate?"

"Maybe" Maya murmured under her breathe

"What was that Miss Hart?"

"I said 'maybe' ok? I'm a terrible person. I don't know why she's making me so upset."'

"Maya, you're not a terrible person. I think you're just a little bit jealous."

"It's just it's always been me and Riley." Maya said with a shaky voice

"I know Maya" Mr. Matthews said, putting a hand on her shoulder

"She's just so much like her, and we're so different. She probably understands more than me _and_ she lets her pet puppies and bunnies every day. What can I do? Give her my problems?"

"Maya, you know Riley better than anyone. You know that you are the first person she'd go to if she was upset."

"But what if that changes? What if she changes everything?"

"She's your best friend. Don't give up on her that easily. You need to talk to go talk to her Maya"

"Thanks Mr. Matthews"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Maya walked home by herself again, thinking about the things Mr. Matthews had said. She felt terrible for being so upset at Riley for making a new friend. The thing was, they both had other friends but something about this girl felt… different.

" _Jealous_ " she wasn't exactly sure how she felt about that word. " _Riley always wants to be friends with every new person. She's' friends with them for a week while they become acquainted with the school or city or where ever or how ever she's met them and then they find other friends as they get more comfortable_." Maya smiled to herself. " _Riley did have that way of making everyone feel welcome and comfortable. This will blow over in a week or two and then it will just go back to Riley and Maya like normal. Gosh that sounds terrible! How do you even go about telling someone you're jealous? How could she talk to Riley if she didn't even know what to say?_ "

Her thoughts were swirling as she made it into her apartment building. After she unlocked the door, she headed straight to the fridge to grab the leftovers of whatever food her mom had brought home from Topanga's the day before. Then she headed over to the TV. She had to get her mind off of the war going on in her mind, the cheesier show the better. Of course the show she finally decided on was about two best friends. Maya detested any sentimental or emotional anything but today, it's all she wanted to watch. It kind of made her heart hurt to watch the two girls on the screen, not a problem in the world between them. She wished things would go back to normal, she HOPED things would go back to normal. She decided the best way to get things back to normal is for her to go back to normal. She'd sulk tonight but after that, she'd move on and pretend like nothing had even happened. Maya knew she had played this up way too big for Riley to just simply forget about the problem without ever knowing what was wrong, but she'd have to try.

The next day Maya went through the window at 7:00 so she could walk with Riley to school, like always. But as Maya entered the room, she realized that Riley wasn't even there. She headed to the kitchen hoping Riley had just thought that she wasn't coming today and had already started eating breakfast.

" _That's the only thing it could be_ " Maya thought as she headed into the Matthew's kitchen.

"Maya!" Auggie cried out as soon as he saw her take a step down the stairs.

"Here Maya, have some eggs." Topanga said gesturing to the table.

Looking around, Maya did not see Riley anywhere.

"Maya" Mr. Matthews said as he walked into the kitchen.

"Where's Riley?" Maya asked trying not to sound as concerned as she felt.

"She just left with Kylie a couple minutes ago. If you hurry, I bet you could catch up before they get too far." Topanga replied

"It's ok Mrs. Matthews; I'll just walk by myself." Maya said, desperately trying to hold back the disappointment and hurt in her voice.

Mr. Matthews looked at Maya with a questioning look on his face.

"I couldn't Mr. Matthews, I just don't know how." Maya tried to explain as she walked out the door.

She was NOT in the mood for talking about it right now. Sure Riley had made friends with new people before but she'd never, ever left for school without Maya because of them. She was starting to get more worried than she already was. As the thoughts began swirling around in her head again, she suddenly stopped short of plowing right into someone. She hadn't realized she had been walking so fast with her head facing the ground. Maya looked up to apologize and realized it was a girl from school.

"Sorry" Maya halfheartedly uttered to the girl. The look of disgust the girl was wearing dispersed when she saw Maya there alone.

The girl looked at her, not quite smiling, but not frowning either and said, "You're Maya right?" She wasn't known for being the nicest girl in the school but she was better than having to walk to school alone so Maya decided to continue with the conversation.

"Yah, and you're Kayla"

"Where's your little friend?"

"Oh, you mean Riley?"

"The tall, brown-haired, overly perky girl?"

"That would be her"

"Where is she?"

"Oh, um… I think she's already at school." Maya mumbled. She really didn't feel like talking about this.

"You don't know where she is? Aren't you two together like 24/7?"

"Kind of" Maya said looking down at the ground

"Oh, I get it. You can walk with me."

"Thanks" Maya said as they crossed the street together.

By the time they got to school, Maya and Kayla were talking and laughing like they'd been friend forever.

As they walked through the doors Riley, who was talking to Kylie, turned her head just in time to see Maya and Kayla walking side by side, laughing simultaneously. A sudden wave of confusion and fear washed over her.

" _Why was she talking to Kayla? She's never said anything about her before. Besides, isn't she known for being kind of mean? What is happening? What is she-_ "

"Riley. Riley, did you hear what I just said?"

Riley's thoughts were interrupted as Kylie waved her hands in front of her face and repeated her name.

"Oh, sorry, Will you excuse me for a second?" Riley asked as she began to make her way over to Maya.

"We need to talk" Riley said a little more forcefully than she had meant for it to sound.

"One second Riley. Let me finish talking to Kayla."

"No Maya, NOW" Riley said as she grabbed Maya and pulled her away

"What is it Riley?" Maya asked with a slight yet still noticeable edge in her voice.

"What are you doing?"

"What do you mean 'what am I doing'? I'm talking to you."

"What are you doing with Kayla? We've barely ever talked to her and, isn't she of mean?"

"That's just it; _you've_ barely talked to her. How can you call her mean if you haven't even got the chance to know her?"

"Do you even remember what she did in elementary school? She always made everyone feel so terrible."

"But that was elementary school. We're in our last year of middle school. I gave her another chance. She's changed."

"What made you give her a second chance? You never give anyone a second chance."

"Well that's a lie. I went to give you a second chance this morning and you weren't even there."

"Why do I need a second chance? What did I do?"

But before Riley could get an answer out of her, Maya had already walked away.


	5. Chapter 4(Point)5

Thank you so much for the reviews! I felt like writing some more tonight. It's short and kind of an add-on to chapter 4 so I'm calling it Chapter 4.5. I promise there will be more Farkle and Ranger Rick in the next Chapter!

Chapter 4.5

The rest of the day Maya stuck with Kayla. They actually had a lot more classes together than had they realized. They sat together at lunch, and as the day ended, they left school together. Maya did her best to avoid Riley the rest of the day. She still wasn't ready to talk. She still needed a little more time to figure out why Kylie ticked her off so much. I mean, there were the obvious reasons of her being in _their_ bay window, for taking away _their_ Maya and Riley time before and after school, and even for her just being so much like Riley; but Maya didn't think that was all. _There had to be something else. Why was this so hard to talk to Riley about?_ If it were just those things she could just tell her that she wanted their one-on-one time back. She knew Riley would gladly comply, but it wasn't that easy. _What was holding her back? What was making this so difficult?_ Maya had told everything to Riley, she wasn't afraid, but this, this scared her. It scared her almost as much as the Forgiveness Project Mr. Matthews had assigned them. Facing the facts about her Dad was the hardest thing she'd ever had to deal with, but for some reason, Maya felt the exact same way she had then. The difference was, Riley wasn't by her side this time; she was on the other one.

On the other side of the silence, Riley was just as confused if not more confused as Maya. _Why did Maya say that she was giving her a second chance? What did she do in the first place? And why in the world had she come to school with Kayla she knows how mean she can be._ It made Riley uneasy to see Maya with Kayla _. What if Maya talked to her about their fight_? Maya was right; she barely knew Kayla so she shouldn't be making such quick judgments on her but Riley did NOT like seeing Maya with her. She wasn't sure if she was afraid that Kayla would steer her the wrong way or if it was something else, she just needed it to stop.

After seeing Maya leave school with Kayla, without even a glance over to her was the last straw. All the anger and confusion was built up. Maya not telling her why she was upset was one thing, turning her back and walking away was another. She went to drop her stuff at home and made her way to Maya's. Fists squeezed tight together, she knocked on the door. A second later, she was face to face with Maya.

"We need to talk right now Maya. No more putting this off. Right now."

"Riley I have a friend over. Can we please do this tomorrow?"

Riley looked over Maya's shoulder and saw Kayla standing in Maya's kitchen. That was it, Riley grabbed Maya and pulled her out of the apartment.

"NO, NOW"

"Riley, calm down. You're making a scene."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Am I embarrassing you in front of your new friend, or can you even call her that? You used to hate her so much but now you act as if she's your best friends. What's that about?"

"People change I guess" Maya answered casually

"No, you don't just figure that out in a day. Why are you doing this?"

"Well maybe it's just time to find some new friends."

That was all Riley could handle. She turned around without saying anything else and headed down the hall and outside. Maya had taken it too far, now it was her needing a second chance.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Days went by without any communication between Riley and Maya. They'd tried giving each other the silent treatment before but it had never worked. They loved each other way too much not to talk to each other. The days felt like months as they passed without even a shared glance. Lucas and Farkle had tried to figure out what was wrong, but neither Riley nor Maya would tell them. The boys weren't even sure if Riley and Maya were even completely sure why they were fighting in the first place.

What confused Lucas and Farkle the most was that besides the lack of communication; Maya and Riley acted as if everything was perfectly fine. They had all been anticipating a break down from Riley; even Maya has waiting for it to happen. Riley couldn't stay mad, and besides; she needed Maya. Maya was the only person in the world who could listen to her ramble for hours on end about anything and everything, without even a hint of annoyance. But as Riley showed no intention of backing down, Lucas and Farkle were starting to worry about Maya. Even though Riley needed Maya to talk to about all the amazing things she had seen, heard, felt, and did every minute of every day; Maya needed Riley even more. She needed her positivity, her hope, and most importantly, her love. Everyone always wondered how Maya could just sit there and listen to Riley continuously talk while at the same time acting like she was actually interested. The truth was though; Maya was interested. She needed to hear the beauty that Riley saw in things. Riley was the light Maya had never had. Lucas and Farkle knew Maya wouldn't back down, she was too stubborn. They also knew that the longer that Riley and Maya didn't talk to each other, the more detached Maya was going to get, not only from Riley, but from everything.

Every day after school Riley left with Kylie and Maya left with Kayla. They had to show each other that they could do without the other. After Maya and Riley were out of eye sight from each other though, they broke away from their new friends. It was way too hard to be with any other person. Every comment, joke, sight, triggered a memory that made them immediately want to tell the other; but they couldn't. This was more than just small, little fight about new friends. There was something bigger, bigger than short stacks of pancakes, or even ice cream duels. Maya couldn't figure out what it was but something was making her hurt like crazy. What made it worse, she didn't have anyone to help her through it….or so she thought.

Lucas and Farkle had finally had enough after another class of daunting silence from the two girls that never stopped talking. They couldn't just sit there and watch their friends fall apart. They knew confrontation would just blow them over the edge. The boys needed a higher power, they needed the bay window. The only problem was getting both Riley and Maya there at the same time.

They spent the rest of the afternoon planning the thing that would determine the future of their friendship, the bay window talk.

Maya looked down at her phone, someone was calling her. She had a split second before she picked up the phone to see who it was when everything in her hoped it was Riley. She read the screen: Ranger Rick Huckleberry

" _Great_ " she thought " _What does he want_ "

"What do you want?" Maya picked up without even a hint of enthusiasm

"Well hello to you too"

"Lucas I don't have time for this, what do you want?"

"Woah, you actually called me Lucas. Something is really wrong."

"I'm hanging up now"

"Wait Maya… Riley wants to talk to you"

Maya slowly put the phone back up to her ear

"Why didn't she just call me herself then?"

"Well umm… because uh.. I don't know. She just told me to tell you 'Bay window in 5'"

"I've got to go Lucas." And with that, Maya hung up.

"Maya… Maya? Great, she hung up on me."

"Well did it work?" Farkle asked hopefully

"I don't know…she just hung up. She didn't say anything"

"You know if we blow this then we are going to make this situation 10x worse"

"Just call Riley now….. please?"

"Hey Riley"

"Hi, Farkle. What are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm just standing in my house, talking to you on the phone."

"No, I mean… What are you doing calling me?"

"I just am calling to make sure you're ok, that's all."

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't you be?"

"Well you and Maya-"

"Farkle, I've gotta go"

"Wait, Maya says 'Bay Window in 10'"

"Ok thanks Farkle, Bye."

"Bye" and with that, Riley was gone.

"So… How'd it go?"

"I don't know! She just said ok, bye. What does that even mean?!"

"Oh man, we're screwed!"

As soon as Riley had hung up with Farkle, she rushed to change her clothes. Maya could always tell her mood by what she was wearing. A big, grey sweat suit would definitely make her not look fine. She didn't want Maya to see that she had gotten to her. She had ten minutes, she'd run to go find her favorite shirt, then she'd definitely look like she was fine.

Just as Riley had walked out her bedroom door, Maya entered. She was never on time to anything, but this was important. She barely realized when she had climbed through the window; she never consciously thought about going through anymore; she was just there. She was there but Riley wasn't. Lucas had said five minutes. It takes Maya five minutes to walk from her apartment to Riley's. Riley was on time to everything, especially with something this important. She would have been surprised if Riley hadn't been sitting there for 5 minutes before, but she's not there at all. " _What is she trying to do? She's just going to have me sit here alone? I bet it's to show me how life is without her. Old Riley would never do that but I'm not sure about this new one. I don't have time for this._ " And with that, Maya climbed back out the window, angrier than ever.

A couple minutes later, Riley entered the room again, taking her spot at the window. " _Farkle said 10 minutes_ " she checked her watch " _3 minutes early, perfect_ " Riley sat their waiting for the window to open. Ten minutes, 15, 30 minutes later and still nothing. "This is just low" Riley thought as she stood up from her bed. Sure Maya could tell her that they need to look for new friends, but calling a Bay Window Meeting and not showing up, that's completely different. She got in bed, imagining how tomorrow would play out as she saw Maya. Riley didn't think she could hold back the silence anymore. " _Enough silence, I'm going to give her a piece of my mind_ "


	7. Chapter 6

The next day Riley stormed up to Maya

"How could you do that to me!"

"What are you talking about? If anything, _I_ should be saying that to _you_ "

"You called a bay window meeting and then had the nerve not to show up!"

"You were the one that called the meeting and didn't show up!"

"Farkle called and told me you wanted to talk to me."

"Well Lucas called me and said _you_ wanted to talk to _me_."

"FARKLE"

"LUCAS"

"Ladies" Farkle said as he and Lucas cautiously moved towards the girls

"What. Did. You. Do?" Maya asked between clenched teeth

"What? What are you talking about? What did we do? We didn't do anything." Farkle replied, talking faster than any of them thought was possible.

"You set us up" Riley said as she glared at them both

"I'm sorry we were just trying to help" Farkle said, lowering his gaze to the floor

"You messed with the power of the bay window"

"Woah, woah, woah, yes, I know it was wrong to set you guys up like that but you haven't said a word to each other in days! We messed up one time and you're flipping out on us! No matter how much you want to blame this whole thing on us; you can't, and you know it. Whatever happened between you, you need to fix it before everything comes crashing down."

"Some things aren't meant to be fixed Lucas" Maya replied as she turned her head and walked away

Riley now understood that Maya's first outburst about finding new friends was purely in the moment. She didn't mean it; she just needed to say something, anything to get Riley's attention. Sure it had made Riley upset but this, this made Riley scared. What was happening that she'd failed to see?

 _That night after her whole blowout with Riley, Maya had opened her computer to one unread email:_

 _kmhart_

 _Her heart dropped to her stomach as questions flooded her brain: It has to be her dad, didn't it? KM Hart, but what did the M stand for? As much as she hated to admit it she really, really hoped that M was for Maya, that no matter how far he had gone, how harshly he had left her, and how much of her life he had missed, that maybe he held onto her through that M. She hated being so hopeful for someone she knew would only cause her pain but the person who'd given hope to her before was gone. Maya had made a mistake saying what she had said, she knew it, but she was getting replaced. There was always someone better than her, someone always leaves, and she, Maya Penelope Hart, would always end up alone and broken. She couldn't go through that again._

 _She hovered her mouse over the email until she finally got enough courage to slam her finger onto the clicker to open it._

 ** _Dear Maya,_**

 ** _I know we didn't really end on the right foot last time we talked. I'm sorry for that. Seeing you that last time really made me regret all the things I've missed in your life. I'm so sorry. I don't know if you'll ever be able to forgive me and that's ok but I'd really like to get to know you better. If it's ok with your mom, and you of course, I'd love if you'd come spend your spring break with me. I'll completely understand if you don't want to come or even reply to this message but I couldn't rest knowing I didn't try._**

 ** _Kermit_**

 _Maya shut her computer and began to cry, this was way more than she could handle._

When Maya got the call from Lucas about the bay window; Maya had felt more relief than she'd had in a long time. Even though Riley's new friend had triggered something in Maya that she never wanted to face; Riley was the only one who could help Maya through this problem with her dad. Riley was the only person who knew all of Maya's needs and limits. She would know if Maya should go see her dad or not.

When the whole bay window thing came crashing down and Riley never showed; Maya began feeling the thing she'd tried so hard to forget, abandonment. She couldn't let what happened so long ago with her dad happen again. She was closer to Riley than she had ever been with her dad. If Riley put Maya off to the side, like her dad had done, Maya knew she wouldn't be able to live through the pain again.

Instead of going to the rest of her classes, Maya sped straight out the door, onto the subway, and into her apartment. She headed straight for her computer. She'd lost hope for Riley because of her dad. If she found hope in her dad again, she wouldn't be scared of being alone again. She could trust herself to trust Riley again and she wouldn't get hurt.

 **Dear Dad,**

 **This in no way is a notion of forgiveness. I just need answers. I'll come for spring break.**

 **Maya**

 _-Send-_

She knew her mom would never agree to let her go visit her dad but Maya really needed to do this. She'd find a way.


	8. Chapter 7

The rest of the day Riley worried about Maya. She had no clue how things had gotten this far without her noticing but she had to get Maya to talk, now.

Maya, on the other hand, wanted to do anything but talk. The one person she could count on was gone. She knew it was partly her own fault. She had stopped talking but Riley had stopped listening even before that; at least that's what it felt like. Usually, Maya would shut down for a day, her mind would overtake her, and nothing made sense. But some how; Riley always knew when to catch her. This time though, Riley didn't catch her, Riley didn't even get there to try. Maya fell and she fell hard. And even though Riley had caught her many, many times before; Maya felt her trust for her being drained. She knew it was completely unfair. Riley had rescued her so many times, everyone makes mistakes and one shouldn't cause her to completely block her best friend out forever. Maya wanted more than anything in the world to trust her. It physically hurt her to think that she was giving up on Riley so fast but for some reason something made it too hard not to. The only thing Mays wanted to do now was leave; she could no longer wait until spring break to visit her dad. She had to go right now. Maya knew this might possibly turn into the worst idea ever. Not only was she going to travel secretly by herself but she was going to visit the man that had caused all her heart break and trust issues from the beginning. She would either find peace or fall into pieces but at that moment, Maya was willing to take that risk so she packed a bag, grabbed all her saved money she had had hidden under her floor board since she was six, and headed to the train station.

During Riley's next 2 classes she meticulously planned what she was going to say to Maya. She knew she'd have to be very careful. Maya had never reached this kind of emotional level with Riley by her side.

" _What happened? How could I have missed this? What had distracted me so much that I missed the biggest emotional breakdown of my best friend? What am I even supposed to say? I wasn't there for her at the time she needed me the most. How can I face her now? I'm the only person she trusts._ "

That thought absolutely broke Riley: " _ **I'm the only one**_ _she's ever trusted_ "

As soon as the bell rang she ran to the class Maya was supposed to be in. She stood by the door, like she did everyday, and waited. The classroom cleared but there was no Maya. Riley could feel her stomach begin to do flips

" _Maybe she didn't think I'd be by the door today so she left before I got there_. _She's mad at me, maybe she left before I got there so she wouldn't have to see me._ "

Riley pushed through the halls as fast, yet as kindly, as she could to get to History class. She almost knocked her dad to the ground as she ran through the door, right into him.

Riley skimmed the room for Maya as soon as she backed up from the wall that was her father.

"Woah, Riley, slow down there"

Mr. Matthews immediately saw the look of panic in his daughter's eyes

"Riley, what's wrong? What happened?"

"She's not here dad. She's not here!" Riley said as her breathes began getting faster

"Whose not her Riley?"

"Maya, she's gone. I didn't see her leave her other classroom. I thought she was mad at me so she just walked here by herself but she's not here either. She's gone."

"Riley, she can't be gone. Did you check the bathroom?"

"No"

"How about the art room?"

"No"

"Ok then just take a deep breathe, relax and go check the bathroom and the art room. I'll go check with the teacher from her last class and see if she knows where she went."

The two Matthews split up to go check the places they had just discussed.

" _She's probably fine. Dad's right, she probably just went to the bathroom._ " Riley thought as she stepped through the door into the ladies room. She looked around and then stood and waited for all the stalls to clear out... No Maya.

" _It's fine. She goes to the art room sometimes when she's upset. She_ _ **HAS**_ _to be in the art room_ "

As Riley headed down the hall towards the art room, she caught glimpse of her dad. His face was getting pale."

"What'd she say dad?"

"She said Maya wasn't in class today"

They looked at each other for a split second and started running towards the art room. They swung the door open to an empty classroom."

"Dad she's not here" Riley said as she began to cry.

"It's ok Riley. I'll call your mom and have her stop by her apartment. But you need to tell me exactly what happened this morning."

"I don't know dad! The boys had noticed that we weren't talking so they called Maya and I and told us that the other one had requested a bay window meeting but they gave us the wrong times so we both thought that the other had ditched us but after we figured out what happened Maya said that maybe some things aren't meant to be fixed" Riley spit out as a sob began

"Why weren't you talking?"

"A couple days ago Maya said she didn't feel good but that she'd stop by the bay window later but she never did. I tried to get her to explain but she wouldn't and then the next day I saw her walk into school with Kayla and she got mad at me for asking why she was talking to her and she said that she gave me a second chance but I didn't take it and I have no clue what she's talking about." Riley said in between cries

"You said this started a couple days ago"

"Yes"

"Riley, you know how we were talking about how when America was found, the English took over the land the Indians had owned and cared for for years, and years before?"

"Dad, I do NOT want a history lesson right now"

"Ok Riley, but please remember how the Indians must have felt when they suddenly had to share the one thing they knew and loved the most"

"Ok dad, let's go" Riley said as she darted towards the exit

"Woah, woah, woah, the only place we are going is class"

"But dad-"

"Riley, I know Maya is the most important thing in the entire world to you but you have to stay here. There's only a few hours left in the school day. I'll have your mom check on her. I'm sure she's fine. She probably just needed a little break."

"Dad, I'm the only person she has and I let her down."

"You didn't let her down Riles"

"But I did! I wasn't there when she needed me."

"You're there now, aren't you?"

"Yes but-"

"That's all that matters Riley. You're there for her now, just like you've always been. We'll figure this out, I promise. I won't let anything happen to her."


	9. Chapter 8 (Fixed)

By the time bell rang, to signify the start of history class, Maya was buying her train ticket. She paused as the "confirm" or "cancel" buttons looming on the screen. This was her last chance to turn back, go home, and wait for Riley to fix everything.

"Hey kid, hurry up" a voice from behind her called out

Maya balled her hands into a tight fist and took a deep breathe.

" _Who even said Riley would come and fix everything_?" She thought " _I really screwed up, besides, Riley has got a new friend now. One who is more like Riley than I could ever be, one who owns a pet store, and doesn't have family and trust issues to burden her down with. She doesn't need me now. Maybe she's never needed me. Maybe she only became friends with me because she felt bad for me. Maybe that's all I've ever been, a pity friend."_

That though made Maya sick to her stomach, on one side, she knew it was a terrible thing to think about her best friend, that all these years of friendship weren't friendship at all, just a crutch for her broken life. On the other side though, in some twisted way, it was a completely possible scenario.

She slammed her finger on the "confirm" button, grabbed her ticket, and sped away as she fought back tears. Memories began swirling around in her head; tainted by the idea of it all being done out of "pity". Was that all this had ever been? That thought made Maya feel physically sick as she ran to the bathroom and threw up in the toilet.

" _Why is he making me sit through class right now? It's not like I'm going to listen to anything he's saying. Maya is missing_." She'd never left school before without telling Riley. Riley wanted nothing more in that moment than to get up from her desk, and run out the door, run until she got to Maya's apartment, run until Maya was in her arms.

Just as Riley was prepping her legs into a darting position, fully ready to follow through with her running plan, he dad's phone rang. He usually keeps it on silent but he was waiting for Topanga to call back after checking Maya's apartment. Riley stopped cold. She looked at her dad, trying to pick out any facial expressions that would let her know if her Mom had found Maya at her apartment, maybe sick, maybe mad, anything but gone; but Mr. Matthews' face remained expressionless, completely unreadable. Even his responses were too vague to be able to figure anything out.

"Okay, I'll tell her. I'll try. Let me know if you hear anything else. Bye" Mr. Matthews said as he closed his phone

Making his way to the door, he turned around and said, "Riley, can I speak with you in the hall for a second?"

"Riley, what's happening?" Lucas asked, standing up

"Nothing Lucas, everything is fine" Riley spit out in a calmer voice than she'd even expected

"But where's Maya?"

"She's sick" She said calmly once again

 _Great, now I'm going to have Lucas mad at me too, for lying to him. It doesn't matter though. Maya is all that matters right now_

Riley stepped into the hall where her dad was already standing.

"Riley, I really need you to answer this question as clearly and as descriptive as you can."

"Why? What's wrong? Was Maya there? Please tell me she was there. Please Dad, please"

"Riley, I need you to be calm right now. Everything is going to be ok. I just need to know when the last time you saw Maya was"

Riley's knees buckled "No no no no no this can't be happening."

"I know Riles, I know, just please answer the question"

"I don't know Dad. I was giving her space. I was trying to figure out what to say to her." Riley said, beginning to cry again.

"When Riley, when?"

"This morning I guess. I already told you. We were yelling at each other for not showing up at the bay window but then we figured out it was Lucas and Farkle's fault; they had set it up and then messed up the times. I thought maybe we could both be mad at them and not at each other but then she said something about things not needing to be fixed or something. I don't know Dad. I don't know."

"It's ok Riley, it's ok. Just breathe. We'll find her"

"How do you know that?! I made her run away. I'm the only safe place she'd run to but she's running away from me. She has nowhere else to go."

"I'll check with her teachers to see if I can figure out what hour she left school. You go get your stuff you'll need to take home tonight from your locker and wait for me. We'll see where we can go from there. I promise we'll find her. I'm sure she couldn't have gone that far."

"Passengers can now start boarding" a man's voice projected over the speaker.

Maya stepped on board the train without a second thought.

No turning back


	10. Chapter 9

**Heads up that Chapter 8 is fixed. Thanks for notifying me! Here's Chapter 9, enjoy!**

Maya stepped off the train and looked down at the address she had in her hand, the one she had used to send the letter for the Forgiveness Project, the letter that changed everything. She walked down the street and flagged down a taxi.'

"Where to?"

"Let's hope somewhere good" Maya muttered as she handed the driver the address she had

"Woah this is the address to the KM Hart headquarters. Do you know someone there?

"I sure hope"

"I hate to break it to you but if you don't; you're never getting into that building."

"Why?"

"Because it's THE KM Hart, one of the biggest corporate offices in the country! It's worth billions"

No way could KM Hart be owned by her "dad". He couldn't support them when he was living with them let alone now

A couple minutes later the taxi pulled up next to a ginormous building

"Good luck kid" the driver said as Maya handed him some money

Walking into the lobby a rather judgmental looking man looked down at Maya from the front desk

"Do you need something Miss?"

"Umm, I'm here to speak with Kermit Hart" Maya spit out quietly

"You wish kid" he said turning to his computer

"No, you don't understand. I'm his daughter."

"Nice try but you are definitely not his daughter"

"How would you know?"

"Because I've seen his daughters, they come in all the time and you are not one of them"

"Please, just call him and tell him Maya Hart is here to see him"

"If he doesn't know who you are, I'm calling security to take you away"

"He'll know"

The man turned to his phone and pressed a button

"Umm yes, sorry Mr. Hart, I know you're busy but there's a girl down here who claims she's your daughter

but of course I know she's not because I know what your daughter look like but I don't think she'd go away if i didn't call you- what sir? You want me to send her up? But sir, she's not actually your d-... Ok, I'll send her up"

The man looked up from the phone with a look of both a shame and disgust "He'll see you now. Take the elevator to floor 45"

"Is there a room number?"

The man just looked backed down at his computer and laughed

Maya's stomach began to churn again. It was all becoming real. She headed to the elevator and as the doors slid closed, Maya suddenly remembered something that the guy at the front desk had said: "' _Daughters_ " it hadn't occurred to Maya that Kermit may have a family, just like the one she was supposed to have. I mean she'd geared talk about him starting a new life but she thought that just meant getting a new job, maybe get a new wife, but never had she thought about kids. He had left her as a kid. No way would he have ended up having another kid, let alone kids.

" _Daughters_ " the thought hit her again as the elevator stopped to ding on floor 45

" _Well here goes nothing, or should I say everything_ " Maya thought as the elevator door opened to another man at a desk

"Um, I'm here to see-"

"Mr. Hart is ready for you. Go on back" the man said pointing to a door without even looking up from his computer screen

Maya opened the door to a massive room, big enough to be the entire bottom floor of a house; it basically was. One wall was lined bookshelf, after bookshelf, while another housed a huge TV which seemed the size of a screen from a theatre

"Maya, is that you?" A voice from further down the room called

"Yes" she replied half heartedly

"What a surprise! I wasn't expecting you until Spring Break"

"Change of plans I guess" Maya muttered under her breathe

"The girls will be so surprised and excited to meet you!"

There it is again " _girls_ "

"What girls?" Maya asked not even sure if she wants to hear the answer

"Oh I'm sorry, that's right; you've never really heard anything about them before. How about I bring Meredith in and we can explain it together."

"Meredith?"

"...my wife Maya. I'm so sorry Maya, this must be really hard to hear."

"No, no, it's fine. I want to know"

"Well Meredith and I got married about 10 years ago. She helped me start this company. I wouldn't be here without her. She helped me out of the rough time I was having after I... Umm-"

"After you left us, right"

"Right, after I left you... She helped me figure out what I was passionate about and then we built this company up out of our garage."

"KM Hart, Kermit and Meredith Hart, right?" Maya asked even she already knew the answer

"I can't believe I could have ever thought it was for me. How stupid am I"

"Yes, I'll call her right now. We can just take the rest of the day off and take you to meet our girls"

"Our girls" even that made Maya's stomach turn

She made her way back down the elevator, this time, with Kermit by her side.

As soon as the elevator door opened an overly perky blonde rushed towards them

"Is this her? Oh my goodness, she's beautiful! I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Meredith"

"I'm Maya" she said sticking out her hand

"Don't be silly! I know who you are!" Meredith said, reaching in for a hug

After the extremely awkward and rather one sided hug, the unlikely trio headed out the door only to be greeted by a limo

" _What is happening_ " Maya thought as she slid into the back

A few minutes later they pulled into what Maya could only think was a really fancy hotel.

"Welcome to our house Maya" Meredith said getting out of the car "Girls come outside! We've got someone we want you to meet."

"Dad! Mom! You're home early!" A girl running out the door called

"Hi sweetie" Kermit replied, embracing her in a hug

"Sweetie, this is Maya. Maya this is Sarah, she's 5"

"The same age I was when you left me" Maya thought while she forced a smile

"Sarah, where are your sisters?"

"In the pool I think"

" _The pool_ " Maya thought " _Mom can barely afford to keep the water running in our apartment. Maybe he wants to help us. Maybe that's why he wanted me to come here_ "

"Maya, do you want to go meet them?"

"Umm sure, I guess" Maya said, not really sure if she actually wanted to dive more into the life she would've, no should've, had

They made their way to the pool to find a middle aged girl splashing in the water and a girl around Maya's age sun bathing at the side of the pool. Maya had to try really hard not to roll her eyes at the absurdity of someone voluntarily laying out in the heat instead of being in the huge, cool pool of water a foot away. If Riley was here, they're have run and jumped in right then

" _Riley... I wonder she's doing right now. She probably hasn't even noticed I'm missing_."

Deep down, Maya knew that was not true. Riley was probably worried sick. If she was scared when Maya hadn't shown up at the bay window that one time, she couldn't imagine what she'd be feeling right about now; but Maya didn't want to think about that now. Then she'd have to think about Kylie. Even their names were similar. She'd probably never get mad a Riley or run away or do anything but make her upset.

Maya's thoughts were interrupted by someone's voice

"Oh dad! Good, you're home! I need you to- who is that" a girl paused pointing at Maya

"Well hello to you too" Maya muttered

"Carmen, this is Maya. You two are actually the same age"

" _Same age, what in the world_ "

As if reading May's mind Kermit quickly explained "Carmen was Meredith's daughter before we got married but since then I've adopted her and I don't think of her as anything except a full blooded daughter"

Carmen rolled her eyes and continued "But who is she, why is she here"

"Well Carmen, Maya is my ummm... She's my-"

"Dad!" The other yelled running over to them. As Kermit began talking to what seemed to be yet another daughter; Maya was trying to figure out why none of his "daughters" knew who she was. Not even the name rang a bell for them; not to mention how much Kermit stuttered when trying to say who she was.

Seaming to have forgotten her question that had been left unanswered, Carmen turned to Kermit and asked "Dad, are you going to come watch my tennis lesson tonight?"

"Sorry Car but I thought I'd catch up with Maya tonight."

"But Dad!"

"Carmen, I have seen every single tennis lesson you have done since you were 7; I think it's ok for me to miss one lesson."

" _He's been to every one of her tennis lessons but he has never bothered to send me even just a card for any of my birthdays_ "

"Maya, do you want to go see the rest of the house now?"

"Actually, I'm kind of tired. It's been a long day. Is there a room I could maybe rest in?" She really just needed some time to process everything that had just happened

"Sure, yah, of course, right this way" Kermit replied leading her to the house. The walked up what seemed like millions of stairs and passed hundreds of rooms until they reached a door.

"Here's our guest room. Take as long as you need. Dinner is usually served around 6."

"Thanks" Maya said, sitting on her bed. She slowly laid back and pictured her small, broken room back at the apartment, the small table in the kitchen and with two worn chairs and one almost as good as new, the number of birthdays with no effort or contact. She remembered all the shifts her mom had worked just to put food on the table. All the times she heard her mom pleading with the electrical company to keep their power on for just one more week. Yet here she was, sitting in the ginormous house, with two loving parents, plenty of electricity, water, and anything someone could possibly want. She was supposed to be running away from replacement, not living it to the extreme. Every tiny thing Maya saw and thought about this house, about her dad's life dug deep into Maya's heart. She felt herself begin to crumble but now she was aware of another empty space, the one beside her, the constant shoulder to lay her head on and cry

"Riley" Maya thought once again, this time though, it wasn't just a thought; it was a need.

Maya pulled her phone out of her pocket, the one she had turned off as soon as she had left school that morning, and turned it back on. As soon as light finally appeared on the screen; and pressed 1. The only speed dial number on her phone, the only person she needed right now.

"Peaches where are you? I've been worried sick" Riley cooed into the phone. Just hearing her voice made Maya feel so much better

"Riley, I need you. I need you right now."

"Are you ok? Are you hurt? Did someone hurt you?"

"No, I'm not ok. I just really need you right now."

"I'm here Maya. Where do you need me to go?"

"...the train station" Maya whispered before beginning to cry

"Oh Maya, you didn't" Riley replied as soothingly as she could

"Just come quick Riley, please."

"I'm already on the train Peaches"

"How'd you get there that fast?" Maya whimpered

"Because I've already been on it for 30 minutes. I already know where you are."

"But how-"

"Maya, you're my best friend. I know everything about you. You were upset, I still don't know about what but you're going to tell me all about that on the train ride home, but you needed some sort of answer so you went to the only place that still has unanswered questions that could get answered. I'm so sorry I didn't catch you earlier Peaches. I'm on my way right now."

"Thank you Riles. I'm sorry I left you. I'm so, so sorry." Maya said, beginning to cry again

"Shhh, Maya, it's ok. Everything is going to be ok." Riley soothed

And as Riley repeated her reassurance. Maya fell asleep with at least a little piece of her broken heart put back into place.


	11. Chapter 10

A wave of relief rolled over Riley as she heard Maya's even breathing. She sat on the phone a little longer to make sure Maya was actually asleep and then she slowly hung up the phone. Calmness washed over her as she realized Maya was safe, maybe hurting, but at least safe. She hadn't known anything when she stepped on the train earlier that afternoon but her gut feeling, the feeling she believed was connected to Maya since the first day they'd met, said Maya's father. She didn't know where he lived, just a general understanding of the location, let alone if Maya was actually there, until that phone call. What Riley did know was that Maya had a very different way of dealing with things when it came to pain. She'd shutdown, but if that didn't work, she'd look for reassurance. Her reassurance though, always seemed to be in the places that would hurt her more. It's almost like a test Maya would do; hoping that at some point the results would be the ones she wanted. They never were though. The people she turned to would never come through and she'd feel abandoned all over again.

" _Oh no, now I'm one of those people_ " Riley thought. " _She came to me and I didn't come through. Why didn't I come through? I abandon her. I confirmed the thing she has always feared. I left her. She believed everyone she cares for will eventually leave her and then I left._ "

Riley had promised herself, before she got on the train that she'd hold herself together but that thought made her absolutely lose it. She tried to take a deep breathe to calm herself down but instead of releasing a long breathe, a ginormous sob escaped instead. At that moment her phone rang. She took a couple deep breathes so that if it was Maya again, she wouldn't be able to tell that she'd been crying. Instead, when Riley answered the phone, her dad was at the other end.

"Any word yet Riles?"

"She's safe" were all the words Riley could spit out before bursting into tears again

"Thank goodness" Corey muttered to himself

"Dad, I'm just like everyone else" Riley cried into the phone

"What do you mean Sweetie?"

"I mean I left her, just like everyone else. She's always been scared that the people she cares about will abandon her and I did." Riley said as a whole new round of sobs spilled out

"Riley, you didn't abandon her. You're on your way to get her right now. You care about her so much that you're literally chasing after her; not leaving her behind."

"But dad, I'm supposed to be her safe place, but I wasn't. She wouldn't have left if I would have just listened. She thought I didn't care about her anymore."

"Riley, Maya knows you care about her. It's probably one of the only things that she can be 100% certain of. She just has some old wounds that still haven't been healed. They're just too deep. Sometimes the pain of those wounds takes over, just like a little kid who has a scrape. That scrape is going to be the only thing they'll be able to think about until it's healed. A band aid helps it heal but one band aid can't stay on the whole time. The scrape has to breathe and the band aid has to be replaced. Riley, Maya is hurt, you can stick with her and help her heal but sometimes you're going to fall off and Maya will breathe by herself for a little bit but when she starts to hurt again you both know that you'll be right back with her until she's completely healed. Then she'll carry you with her. You'll be there to comfort her until the next time she needs healing."

"Ok, I guess I get it _Mr. Matthews_ " Riley responded in a mocking tone as she wiped tears from her eyes.

"Hey, it wasn't history"

"No, but I was on of those life lessons wrapped up in a comparison wrapped up in a who know what."

"Just know that you absolutely didn't abandon her. You're the most constant thing in her life. You're the one keeping her safe Riley. One bad week is not going to ruin what you guys have, even if that week does include a run away and a train ride"

"Thanks dad" Riley replied feeling more relief then she'd felt all week

"Now go bring our Maya back"

"I will"


	12. Chapter 11

As soon as the train doors opened, Riley jumped out of them, ran to the street corner, and frantically began waving down a taxi.

"Where to?" a taxi driver called out his window

"Um, this is kind of a long shot but do you by chance know of a Kermit Hart?"

"Is this some sort of game show or something? Of course I know he is, everyone in this city knows who he is. His company keeps this whole town alive and running."

"What?" Riley replied, confusion washed over her face."

"Do _**you**_ know who Kermit Hart is?"

"He's my best friend's dad" Riley answered a little more defensively than she had meant to

"You wish…Now look kid; I've got places to be. Do you need a ride or not?"

"Can you just take me to whatever place I'd be most likely to find Kermit Hart?"

"Sure, get it" The cab driver scoffed at Riley's naivety

In a couple of minutes the driver pulled up to the huge, glass, KMHart building.

"Good luck" the driver half laughed as Riley stepped out of the cab.

"Are you sure this is the right p-" Riley began before realizing the driver was already gone.

" _We must have been thinking of different Kermits"_ Riley thought, looking up at the ginormous building in front of her. " _Maybe someone inside will be able to help me. I'm sure they'd know where another Kermit Hart would be._ "

As she made her way through the doors, the guy at the front desk rolled his eyes. "Great, another estranged daughter" he muttered under his breathe.

"What did you just say?" Riley asked, now rushing to the desk

"I'm sorry, this is a business. No children allowed."

"No, no, no I know you said something else."

"Leave now before I call security. I'm serious. I've already had enough of teenage girls today."

"You don't understand. This is an emergency. My best friend ran away and I think she might have come here."

"Well in that case….still no" the man said, looking down at his computer, signifying the conversation was over.

"Can you at least tell me if there's another Kermit Hart in this city?"

"Of course not, that name is unfortunate enough for one person."

"I **really** need to know where he is right now"

"And I _really_ need you to leave. I'm pressing the security button right now"

"You might want to hold off on that sir", Riley said in as sweetly a voice as possible, "because I'm the best friend of that 'estranged daughter' of his and I don't think he'd take too kindly to anyone who tried to keep me away or turned me into security, so I'm going to ask you again. Can you please tell me where I can find Kermit Hart?"

"He went home early today"

"And where can I find this _home_?"

The front desk man narrowed his eyes and began to write down an address

"And if I hear you called my best friend 'estranged' to her face, or really ever again", Riley said getting closer to the desk, "you are going to have a lot more people than just me to deal with."

And with that, Riley grabbed the paper wih the address on it and skipped out the door.

As the taxi pulled over to a stop, Riley was again overtaken by confusion as she looked at yet another ginormous building in front of her. She hesitantly pushed the button by the large gate.

"Can I help you?" came a voice out of an unknown speaker

Riley spun around, looking for a source of the voice.

"Just press the button and speak honey"

" _Oh no_ " thought Riley, tear starting to well in her eyes again, " _I'm fine. Hold it in. I need to be strong for Maya. I can't just break down whenever I hear something that reminds me of her. I'd be able to fill an ocean by the time I finally found her._ "

She took a deep breath, pushed the button, and said "I'm looking for Kermit Hart"

"You are going to have to give me a little more than that dear. Everyone is always looking for Kermit."

"Um, can you just tell him that there's a girl here looking for Maya?"

"I think you've got the wrong guy dear. I've been here since the first day Kermit has and I've never heard of any Maya."

"Can you just tell him please? It's really important."

"Ok, one second sweetie. I'll be right back."

" _Hold it together Riley. Hold. It. ._ "

"Ok sweetie, the gate is unlocked now."

"Thank you" Riley choked out as she made her way to the gate.

It took what felt like an hour to make it up the long drive. When she finally reached the door, Kermit was there waiting.

"Hey, I remember you. You're…Emily, right?"

"Riley" Riley replied trying to hide the anger that was beginning to rise in her chest.

She wanted more than anything to yell at him. To tell him about all the times she had had to comfort Maya as she cried about the "father" she could barely remember, or about how terrified she was to feel or show trust and love. She wanted to tell him about all the sleepovers hey had had just so her mom could be sure that she'd have a substantial dinner at night and breakfast in the morning while her mom worked all night just to keep the lights on. Or maybe she wanted to tell him how ashamed he should be that while he's living in this mansion, his wife and daughter are struggling to live at all. But most of all, Riley wanted to tell him how he'd missed the chance to get to know the greatest, most talented, kindhearted person the world had ever seen. Not only had he had the chance to get to know her, but he could have helped raise her. He could have been her dad. He could have loved her.

But Riley didn't say any of that. She wanted to run up and slap him in the face and tell him to wake up. She wanted to punch him in the chest to make him feel at least a fraction of what he'd made Maya feel. But she didn't. Right now, she needed to find Maya. It was the most important thing, not only for right then, but forever. She couldn't change the past. Even though she wanted so badly to hurt Kermit for all the times he'd hurt Maya; it wouldn't change anything. She could only change the things that happened next. She was lucky enough to have got to know Maya, watch her grow, and most importantly, love her more than she ever thought she could love somebody and be loved by. She had to find her. She had to find her and tell her everything is going to be ok. She had to bring her back home, keep loving her, and let her know that she will never, ever leave her.

So with that, Riley relaxed her body (as best she could for standing next to the man that had caused her best friend so much pain) and as calm a voice as she could muster up, asked "Mr. Hart, can you please point me in the direction of Maya?"

"Please Riley, call me Kermit."

"I'd rather not. Now can you please give me the directions to where I could be able to find Maya please?"

"I'll take you there right now."

"That won't be necessary; directions will be good enough sir."

"Um ok, go up the stairs straight ahead, then go up to the third floor using the stairs on the right, and she's in the bedroom that is the 5th down on the left."

And with that, Riley was gone. 


	13. Chapter 12

About the time Riley had arrived at Kermit's front gate, Maya awoke trying to remember what had exactly happened. She sat up only to find a picture of her so called "father" with his arms wrapped around one of the girls he had introduced Maya to as "his daughter". All at once, everything came flooding back to her and it felt like a band-aid was being ripped off of her heart all over again.

" _Riley_ " she thought. " _Did I actually called her or was I just dreaming that_?"

She wanted so badly to check and see but something in her would not allow her to pick up her phone and look. Something was stopping her, she had absolutely no clue what, but that something left Maya alone on the bed, feeling helpless. She wanted cry. She needed to cry, but there was no emotion left. She felt empty. Her mind was thinking a thousand thoughts at once but she couldn't make out what a single one was saying. And so she sat. She sat and wondered what was going to happen next and if she'd be able to handle it; she wasn't sure if she'd be able to.

Riley ran up two flights of stairs, down a hallway, and then counted out five doors. Then she recounted. Then she recounted again. She went and stood by the door, put her hand on the knob, and stopped. She had been working so hard, and moving so quickly to find Maya but once there was just a door separating her from reuniting; she suddenly wished everything would slow down. She had no idea what Maya was feeling right now let alone if she was actually in the room. She had so many things to tell her too; to apologize to her for not being there, to encourage her, maybe to yell at her a little for scaring her to death, but most importantly: to tell her how much she loves her and how important she is in her life. As Riley rehearsed what she was going to say in her head; she began to turn the handle, but as the door opened to reveal Maya staring so helplessly and blankly at the floor; all pre-rehearsed conversation was forgotten as Riley made one fowl swoop towards Maya and embraced her. All the emotions Maya was afraid she'd lost came flooding back as she completely melted into her best friends arms. She cried, and cried, and cried as Riley sat quietly, soothingly stroking Maya's hair. Just as she thought she was done crying, the sobs would start again. She lay there; limp in Riley's arms, until her throat was raw, her tears had run out, and her eyes were so swollen she could barely open them enough to see. Riley gently scooted off the bed, reached her hand out for Maya to grab, and without saying a word; they walked down the hall, down the stairs, out of the house, through the gate, into a taxi, and back into the embrace they had been in earlier until they reached the train station, without a single soul realizing they had even left.


	14. Chapter 13

They sat in silence for the whole ride back to the train station. Although it pained Riley to have absolutely no clue why her best friend was in the terrible state she'd found her in or why she'd even ran away in the first place, she knew trying to start the conversation in the back of the taxi and then having it interrupted by a change in transportation would in no way help her come any closer to understanding the circumstances, or in consoling Maya. Right now she just needed to be there, in the silence, and hold her friend; to show her the love she had been failing to see the last couple weeks.

As they pulled up to the station, Riley silently handed the cab driver some money, grabbed Maya's hand, and headed into the train station. Mr. Matthews, having been more calm and quick thinking, had purchased two train tickets back to New York as soon as Riley had confirmed Maya's location.

As the train began to board, Riley led Maya to the two farthest back seats where she was sure no one would be, and sat down. The departure was announced over the speakers, and Maya began to silently whimper again as Riley pulled her in close and began to stroke her cheek.

After all the years of knowing Maya, Riley had learned the methods she needed to use to comfort her. When they were really little, Maya had crawled through the bay window, crying after she had realized her father wasn't coming back. The only thing Riley could do at the time was to wipe the tears as they fell from her eyes. So, just like she had done so long ago, she stroked Maya's cheek and wiped her tears as they began to fall again.

"He has a mansion" Maya spit out "We barely have an apartment and he has a mansion. He has a family. He said he couldn't take care of me but now he has three daughters. They didn't even know who I was."

As the train moved steadily down the tracks, Maya told Riley about everything that had happened from the time she had arrived, to the time Riley had gotten there but Riley had yet to figure out what had caused her to freak out earlier in the week. Still, she sat there and listened. She knew this was Maya's way of processing everything that had happened. Right now, Riley was just relieved to have Maya in her arms and to hear her voice.

After Maya had finished talking about everything that had happened with her father, she lifted her head up so she could look Riley in the eyes.

She whispered "I'm so sorry" as her eyes filled with tears, Riley had tried so hard to stay strong for Maya but she began to cry.

"Why did you leave? What happened? Did I do something wrong?" Riley cried, tears streaming down her face. "I stood by the door to your class so we could walk to history together like always and so we could talk but you weren't there, and you weren't at your apartment, and I couldn't find you anywhere and I was so scared."

"I know Riles. I'm so sorry" Maya whispered, now wiping the tears from Riley's cheeks

"Why did you do it? Why did you leave? What did I do?"

"Now you listen to me right now Riley", Maya said, placing Riley's head gently in her grasp so that they were again looking at each other in the eyes, "You did not do anything wrong. This is not your fault."

"But Maya, i'm supposed to be able to tell when you're hurting. I'm supposed to be there for you but I wasn't."

"Riley, this is not your fault. It's not your job to watch me all the time. You talk to other people, you do different things. I don't want you to have to feel responsible for me. I don't want to burden you and I most definitely don't ever want to cause you pain. This was not your fault."

"Yes it was. I should have seen it coming. I should have been with you."

"No Riley, I don't want you to feel like you have to be with me all the time. I don't want to take your happiness away and weigh you down with my problems. You don't deserve that."

"Maya, why would you even think that? You know I'd do anything for you, and not because I feel like I have to, because I love you and what I want more than anything in the world is for you to be happy. Don't ever think you're a burden. You're my favorite person in the whole world. How did you even get that thought in your mind?"

"I don't know, I guess I was just scared." Maya said looking down at her shoes.

"Scared of what Maya? What are you scared of?" Riley asked, using her finger to lift Maya's chin back up.

"Nothing, it's stupid"

"Maya, if it made you this upset I'm sure it's not stupid. Now what are you scared of?"

"Replacement" Maya whispered in a barely audible voice

"What?"

"Replacement , ok? I'm scared of being replaced."

Riley looked at Maya confused. It was definitely not the response she was expecting.

"Who is going to replace you Maya? Is this about your dad? Did he say something to do?"

"No, it's not about my dad"

"Then who are you afraid is going to replace you?" Maya had been looking back down at the floor until Riley had asked that question. She slowly lifted her head and looked at Riley with her big, fearful, blue eyes

"Me? You think _I'm_ going to replace you?"

"I don't know. Just forget it. I told you it was stupid."

"Forget it? Maya, I've known you since we were like 5 years old, this is not something I'm going to just forget"

"I know" Maya said, tears running down her face yet again.

"You're my best friend. Nothing and nobody will ever, EVER replace you."

"But she took my spot in our bay window" Maya whispered

"She who-" but before she even finished saying the words, all the pieces seemed to come together: when everything started, why she hadn't noticed, all the strange things Maya had said, her new friendship with Kayla, and the reason she went and saw her dad without warning. It all made sense suddenly."

"Oh Maya, that's not what happened"

"Yes it is, I SAW it"

" _The reason she didn't come over the day she promised_ " Riley realized. "I was giving her a tour and when got to my room she went and sat down there. I told her the story of how we met there and then we went somewhere else. I would never let anyone take that spot away from you. Besides, it's just a spot. There's bay windows everywhere for anyone, but there's only one you for me."

"But she's so much like you and you always look so happy when you're with her."

"Maya, I already have a me, I need a you."

"She lets you hold bunnies, she likes the same things, and she makes you Super Smiley Riley all the time."

Riley looked at Maya confused, "She makes me what?"

Maya let a little smile slip onto her face as she explained "Well you're almost always smiling but you have a different kind of smile when you get really excited or happy that I like to call your 'Super Smiley Riley' face. She makes you happier than you already are, and I make you, well, do this" She said, gesturing to the train.

"Maya, let me ask you this; how many people have you cried in front of?"

"What does that matter?"

"Maya, how many?"

"You, my mom, and your parents I guess"

"And why only them?"

"Because I don't want to cry in front of other people."

"Why?"

"Because they don't know me or understand me like you do."

"Ok, now tell me this; have you seen me cry?"

"Yes"

"Have you seen me cry in front of anyone besides you, my parents, and maybe Farkle and Lucas?"

"No"'

"Well there you go"

"Riley, that doesn't prove anything. Wouldn't you rather be around someone that makes you happy all the time instead of someone like me?"

"What do you mean someone like you? Who says you don't make me happy all the time?"

"You know what I mean"

"No, I'm serious Maya. My face is just my face. I don't have a facial expression big enough to express how you make me feel. I would not ride on a train across the east coast, by myself, for anyone but you. You know why? Because you make me happy, because I love you, and because you are my best friend. You are the strongest person I know. You're there for me when I need to cry and I'm there for you when you need to. I didn't do a very good job of that this week and I'm so sorry but I'm not your dad, I'm not going to leave you, and I'm not going to replace you EVER. Those couple hours where I didn't know where you were, were the scariest hours I have ever experienced. I thought I'd lost you. I don't think I could make it in a world without Maya Hart and I don't want to. I need you in my world Maya. Don't ever leave me again."

Maya now embraced Riley as she began to cry

To Be Continued…..


	15. Chapter 14

" _No, I'm serious Maya. My face is just my face. I don't have a facial expression big enough to express how you make me feel. I would not ride on a train across the east coast, by myself, for anyone but you. You know why? Because you make me happy, because I love you, and because you are my best friend. You are the strongest person I know. You're there for me when I need to cry and I'm there for you when you need to. I didn't do a very good job of that this week and I'm so sorry but I'm not your dad, I'm not going to leave you, and I'm not going to replace you EVER. Those couple hours where I didn't know where you were, were the scariest hours I have ever experienced. I thought I'd lost you. I don't think I could make it in a world without Maya Hart and I don't want to. I need you in my world Maya. Don't ever leave me again."_

 _Maya now embraced Riley as she began to cry_

"I'm so sorry Riles. I wasn't thinking. Everything was going so bad between us and then I got that email from my dad and I was hoping everything would magically be better if I went to see him. I thought it wouldn't hurt so bad if things were better with my dad, that way if you stopped being friends with me, I wouldn't have had two people who have left. I know that sounds terrible and stupid now, but every time you and I got deeper into our fight, the more feelings and thoughts I remembered from when my dad left. I was so scared. It hurt so badly and I knew it would feel even worse if you left. I thought going away would make it all better but it obviously didn't. I know you love me more than anyone else in the world but there was just something inside me that kept telling me that everyone I love will eventually leave. I don't know why, and I know it's not true, and it -"

"Maya stop, its ok. Just promise me that you'll talk to me next time you feel like this and that you'll never ever leave _me_ again."

"I promise"

"Good, because our stop is the next one and I wasn't going to let you get off until you promised me that."

"I do promise, and I'm so sorry for hurting you."

"You don't have to apologize Peaches, I know you felt hurt too. Now let's get ourselves together before we have to get off the train and face the parents." said Riley as she raised her hand and wiped a tear from Maya's face.

"Oh no, I forgot about that. Why can't the world just be you and me?"

"For right now it can" Riley replied, resting her head on Maya's shoulder.

Maya laid her head on top of Riley's and they stayed like that until the train pulled into the station.

"Here we are" Riley sighed, reaching out her hand for Maya to grab.

"How am I going to face them Riley? They are going to be so mad."

"Yes, they'll be mad but I think they'll be more relieved to see you and know you're safe. Now come on, let's get off this train and go home."

As they stepped off the train, they could see Corey, Topanga, and Katy standing there with worried faces but as soon as Riley made eye contact with them, their faces washed over with relief.

Immediately, Maya ran over to hug her mom.

"Baby girl, where have you been? You had me so worried." Katy asked as she embraced Maya.

Maya had no idea how she was going to tell her mom where she'd been or why she'd left. Her mom had given her everything and she had just left, just like her dad. Tears began to roll down her face again as she tried to think of the right words to say but all that came out was a quiet "I'm sorry"

"Let's just get you home Baby girl. You can tell me when you're ready. Thank you so much for your help Corey and Topanga, and thank you so much for bringing my girl back home safe Riley. Maya is so lucky to have you as her best friend."

Maya embraced Riley one more time before she headed home with her mom. Before they unhooked from their hug Riley whispered

"I love you Maya. Don't ever forget that, ok?"

"I love you too Riley. I promise." Maya whispered back, pulling away from the hug and holding up the finger with her ring on it.

"Thunder"

"Lightening"

" _Forever_ "

"Forever."


End file.
